Betrayed
by Reese M
Summary: Someone from the future has come to destroy Voyager. Can the young Captain who's followed him back in time stop him? Or will she be overwhelmed by being on Voyager? Can she stick to the temporal prime directive or will she be discovered? J7 R
1. Chapter 1

A's N: This story is set the universe created in Where She Belongs so if you haven't read that you might want too. Of course I don't own anything this is all for fun and enjoyment. Please take the time to review :)

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_Some time in the Future _

The desert wind blew harshly against porcelain skin already reddened by the high scorching sun. It blew strands of red hair from it's tightly woven braid and coated the red and black uniform that the woman wore in flecks of flesh cutting grains of sand. The Captain reached for the last remaining hand hold of the cliff, using all the strength in her upper body to pull herself onto the small plateau. She could see him running towards his waiting shuttle and knew that if she was going to get to him before he got there she would need to act quickly. As soon as she had her full body pulled over the lip of the plateau the Captain lunged at the man she and her people had been tracking down for the last four months.

The man, who carried a bundle wrapped in rags beneath his arm, turned just in time to see the red haired Captain's hands gripping for his prize. He only had moments to set the bundle aside before he engaged the woman, so in one fluid movement the man placed the bundle on a rock as he threw out his left leg. The kick to her chest sent the Captain stumbling backwards for a moment, which gave the man time to counter her attack. With all his force he charged her as he grunted angrily. He barreled into her, wrapping his arms around her tiny frame, sending them both to the ground. He pinned her to the ground and snarled at her, their faces mere inches from each other, he struck her and then reached for the knife in his waist belt The Captain was able to use this small opening of time to kick him off her, sending him backwards into a bolder. She scrambled to her feet as fast as she could and then once again lunged for him hitting him with all her might square in the face. The man stumbled back into the bolder behind him, and the Captain reached out grabbing him by the hair and sending his skull into the rock.

Dazed, the man growled in anger and lunged forward wrapping his hands around the Captain's neck. He squeezed with every ounce of strength he had causing the Captain's knees to weaken beneath her. She grabbed hold of his fore arms and held tightly as everything began to get fuzzy, and then suddenly she pulled back sending herself hurling to the ground backwards. Releasing her hold on his arms she pushed with all her might with both her hands and feet, sending the man sailing over her. Quickly she got back to her feet and seeing her chance she hurried over to the wrapped bundle.

The air sizzled all around her and she could hear the distinct whine of an energy weapon just before discharge. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck sizzle long before she felt the impact of the phaser blast on the small of her back. The Captain sank to her knees and gripped for her own weapon just before the sudden and sharp pain roared from the spot where the butt of his weapon made contact with her skull. The Captain fell forward, throwing out her hands to stop her fall, her eyes closed involuntarily. She could hear his laugher.

"Nice try Captain." She could feel his closeness but couldn't get her body to react as she felt the darkness surrounding her. "I have all the information I need and now I have the means to accomplish my goals."

He grabbed her by the hair and yanked her head up forcing her to look him in the eyes. "I'd say that I would see you when I got back but if all goes well you won't be here when I return." He reached down and kissed her hard on the lips, breaking the heat blistered skin. When the kiss was over he kicked her hard sending her crumbling to the ground. "It was fun my petite. No hard feelings?"

She lifted her head and looked him right in his cold dark eyes and then spit at him before seeing the edge of his weapon coming at her head again. The pain made her roar out loud before everything went dark.

The rest of the away team had seen the fight and were quickly making their way towards the Captain's position. Several of them began to fire upon the small shuttle as it took off but their phaser rifles did little against its upgraded shielding system. They warned the ship that the target had escaped and was heading their way while two of them climbed up to the Captain's now limp body.

The ship had attacked the shuttle but before they could get a tractor beam on it the shuttle jumped to warp and was gone. They tacked it as far as they could while they waited for the away team to return, but just before the shuttle cleared long range sensors they detected an anomaly and then the shuttle was gone. The away team beamed back to the ship and the Captain directly to sickbay. They'd let him get away and everyone knew that when the Captain awoke she would not be a happy woman.

"Captain, please lay back down. You've suffered a major head wound." The ship's chief medical officer pleaded two hours later as the Captain pushed away his hands.

"I've got to get to the bridge." She insisted. "If Bruening was able to fit his shuttle with the stolen technology then..."

"Then he's already opened up a transspaceal rift." Her first officer said as he walked over with a padd. He held it out to her and waited for her temper to flare.

The Captain read over the padd and then looked up to glare at the man who'd given it to her. "Damn it, this means he has a head start." She turned that heated glare onto the doctor. "Which means the last place I need to be is here!"

The doctor sighed. "Captain until I have finished treating your injuries your not going anywhere."

The captain huffed. "Fine, you have until we've reacted our destination." She told him in her most commanding voice before turning to her first officer. "Set course maximum warp."

"Aye Captain." The Commander nodded before leaving sickbay.

By the time the doctor was ready to release the Captain the ship was approaching it's destination. The Captain stepped off the turbo lift but instead of heading to her command chair she headed for her ready room as she barked out orders. "Hail the colony, Lieutenant, inform them that there will be one beaming down and then establish a standard orbit. Commander my ready room ten minutes."

Both men managed to say, "Aye Captain." before the doors of the ready room hissed closed behind their commanding officer. The Captain walked over to her replicator and ordered a strong black coffee before sitting at her desk and opening a secure channel.

A moment later a man with a young, yet weathered face, and a single boxed pip appeared on her terminal. "Report Captain."

Her face was expressionless despite the turmoil churning in her gut. "He got away, Sir." The man frowned. "Do I still have permission to complete this mission the way I see fit?"

The man on the screen looked at her a moment and then finally nodded. "Of course, Captain. What did you have in mind?"

"My ship is in orbit over the research base." She told him.

No other explanation was needed. They had talked about this option weeks ago. Both had hoped it wouldn't come to this. "You're aware of the risk you're taking?"

Her features softened as she nodded. "I do, Sir. It's the only way we're going to stop Bruening from completing his mission."

The older man's face suddenly became very concerned. "You know Captain I have often been approached over the past several months by colleagues who think I made a mistake giving you this mission."

Her face remained cool and commanding but her eyes betrayed the emotions of knowing that the others did not trust her to do her best.

"I however, have never had any doubts." The admiral said with a boyish smile. "Do what you must, Captain, and god speed."

A very faint smile pulled at the corner of her lips. "Thank you, Sir, and hopefully when I return with the criminal we will finally be able to convince the powers that be that this project was a bad idea to begin with."

The man on the screen nodded and then sent the Captain a file that she quickly downloaded. She read it over and nodded as she sipped her coffee. When her door chime rang she didn't bother to look up, she simply pressed her thumbprint to a different padd, and called out, "Enter."

Her first officer and one of her closest friends walked in and stood before her desk. He didn't say a word and she hadn't expected him to. She knew that he was fully aware of what she was about to do. "Commander I am here by placing you in command of this ship until my return."

The young man who was actually several years older then she, frowned. "You can't really be thinking of doing this."

Finally she looked up from her padd and right into his eyes. "I already have permission. I'm doing this and nothing you can say can talk me out of it."

"This has never been attempted before, how do you know the test ship won't explode the moment you open the rift?" He asked her, his concern written all over his face.

"I don't." She answered as she slowly stood. "But, this is something I have to do. If Bruening is successful he won't just be killing one hundred and fifty innocent lives. His success will end up costing us hundreds of good people and I'm not about to allow that to happen."

The two were quiet for a moment and then finally the Commander asked, "Are you doing this because you want to complete this mission or is this personal?"

She sighed. "You know the answer to that."

He nodded and then reluctantly took the padd she was offering him. He looked down at it and noticed there was no set time for her return. "Your parents aren't going to be happy when they hear what you've done ya know."

This caused her to laugh a little. Her smile was bright and so were her bright blue eyes. "Don't worry about them I've been working them since I was old enough live out side the womb."

The testing center of the R&D colony was a buzz of hurried activity. As the Captain made her way through the halls she was glad that she wouldn't have to deal with any testy engineers who would gladly protest at her being the one to take out their latest project. Engineers hated when red suits ousted them on things like this, and normally she would have never dreamed of taking this honor from those who deserve it, but this was a matter beyond having your name in the history books. There was however one engineer that she knew she would have to deal with.

"So it's true. You're doing this." Came a voice from behind her.

She nodded as she slowed enough for the other woman to catch up to her. "I have to and you of all people should understand why."

"I do." The other woman said as she took up a stride along side her. "You know the rules? You can't tell them anything, you can't tell them who you are, and you can't change anything. You go, you get Bruening, and you get back here safely. Cause if you don't come back in one piece I'm going to kick your ass."

She laughed as they walked into the shuttle bay. "I'll be back. You still owe me an hour with Captain Proton."

The young engineer groaned before the two women embraced. Then she watched as the tall redhead walked over to the flight team to begin her briefing. Once everything was ready in the launch bay she headed up to the control room.

"Base control to the Discord, are you ready for launch, Captain?"

The voice seemed to echo in the small cockpit of the shuttle. "Ready for launch base control."

The lay out of the shuttle was comfortingly familiar to her as she powered up the high tech machine. The engines hummed and all systems powered up and awaited her command. "Shuttle craft Discord to base control, all systems ready. I'll see you all when I get back."

"Be careful." Came the young engineer, and her best friend's, voice.

A smile tugged on her lips as the shuttle lifted off the tarmac and headed through the planet's atmospheres with a slight shaking. When the darkness of space with its specks of light suddenly engulfed her front view port she gasped. It's beauty never ceased to amaze her. The sight of her ship as it orbited the planet was the last thing she saw before sending a purple fizzling beam of light out into open space causing a large spaceal rift in front of her.

The Captain took a deep breath and held it for a moment and then set course and headed right into the rift. Everything around her became full of bright and bursting colors. The shuttle shook hard as it picked up speed until everything looked like one long strand of color as the shuttle spun uncontrollably counter clock wise. Just when she thought her senses, and stomach, couldn't take anymore everything stopped. The colors were gone, replaced by the darkness of space once again, and the spinning had stopped. Once she could see straight again and she managed to swallow her heart and stomach back down, the Captain quickly accessed the nearest relay.

"I made it." She said with a smile as she felt at least a small part of the tension in her shoulders relax. "Now to find them before Bruening does."


	2. Chapter 2

The away team waited near the Delta Flyer for the last member of their collection team to come out of the dilithum laced caves. They were set to rendezvous back at the flyer nearly ten minutes ago and were due to return to Voyager within the next thirty. A slow growl came from the young Human-Klingon chief engineer as she looked back at the others who were loading their mined crystals onto the shuttle.

"Where the hell is Delvine?" B'Elanna grunted as she looked over at Tom Paris. The Delta Flyer's pilot and B'Elanna's husband just shook his sandy blonde head. "If we're late for our return I swear he'll be scrubbing conduits with q-tips for a month." She growled. "Doesn't he realize I have a kid to get home too?"

"Shall I return to the caves and look for him?" Vorik asked as he carefully came up behind his CO.

B'Elanna was just about to say yes when she spotted a dark haired man pulling a collection canister behind him. She watched as the man struggle with the small crate and rolled her eyes as she signaled Vorik to go and help him. She stood there, her dark eyes never leaving the young officer, and waited until they had the last crate loaded onto the shuttle.

"Your late, Ensign." She scolded through gritted teeth.

The young man looked more like he'd just gone wild targ hunting rather then collecting dilithum crystals. "I'm sorry, Lieutenant."

"If we're late getting back to Voyager, Ensign Delvine, you will be right along side me explaining to the Captain why." B'Elanna barked at him. It took everything in her power not to smack the young man in the back of his head.

"Yes Ma'am." Delvine replied as he looked at the tops of his boots.

Again B'Elanna rolled her eyes. "Alright everyone on the damn shuttle."

The trip back to Voyager was a quiet one. No one was willing to say a word while B'Elanna was in one of her cranky moods. The engineering crew had thought that after having a baby and spending a whole month on parental leave that the brash lieutenant would come back a little more mellow. She hadn't. She'd come back just as brazen as she'd been before the birth of her daughter.

The Delta Flyer docked with three minutes remaining on the clock. A feat done solely because Tom flew like a mad man. The tension on the shuttle was too much for him to take and he couldn't wait to get back on the bridge to finish his shift. After this assignment he felt he really needed that hour on the holodeck with Harry, which he was planning on sneaking in before having to pick Miral from Neelix.

Captain Janeway turned away from the Astrometrics report she was reading when she heard the turbo lift doors open. She couldn't help but smirk a little as she took in the look on Tom's face. Mining missions always came back with some pretty interesting stories. "I trust all went well, Mister Paris?"

Tom nodded as he took the helm with a sigh of relief. "Yeap, we got what we needed and managed to make it out fairly easy. Though I wouldn't want to be Delvine right now."

Janeway's brow frowned as she thought about the young engineering ensign who still seemed awkward in his own skin, and certainly in his uniform. She sighed inwardly and decided to wait for B'Elanna's official report before looking into ways to get the young man on track yet again. "Seems like we're done here, Mister Paris. Get us back on course, warp six."

"Aye Ma'am." Tom replied as he turned the ship towards the Alpha quadrant and engaged the warp engines.

Ensign Delvine stood near B'Elanna's desk while she chewed him out over getting spilt from Vorik, for not reporting in, and for returning to the shuttle late. He couldn't look at his CO so his gaze remained attached to the top of her desk.

"This isn't the first time I've had to remind you of things you should have learned in your first year at the academy, Ensign." B'Elanna scolded.

Delvine nodded but knew not to reply.

B'Elanna sighed in frustration. "One more mess up Mister Delvine and I'll have you reassigned to cleaning the pots and pans in the mess hall. For now you're going to be buddied up with Ensign Mahoney." For a moment when he looked up at her, meeting her eyes, B'Elanna thought she saw a flash of outrage but of course the young man didn't say anything. He merely nodded. "Am I understood?" She asked wanting a verbal answer.

"Yes Lieutenant." He replied in tight voice.

"Good now go help Mahoney and Vorik with those crystals." B'Elanna told him as she flicked her hand towards the door of her office.

The mess hall was just starting to hum with the pre-dinner buzz which made it the perfect time to steal away a cup of coffee and some down time with the two most perfect babies anyone had ever seen. Of course this was coming from the mother to one and godmother to the other, but Janeway wasn't being a bit bias.

"I'm so glad that the Doctor was able to make this into an actual blanket." Janeway said as she picked up her daughter's blanket, formally one of Seven's body suits, and placed it over the lap of the now ten-month-old child.

Neelix chuckled as he cradled a four-month-old Miral in his arms. "He downloaded a 'how to sew' program as part of his how to care for infants subroutine."

This time Janeway laughed, and then sat there watching the Talaxian as he held the smaller of the two children, while at the same time making strange noises and faces that made the child who sat next to her laugh. "Neelix have we told you how much we appreciate you adding nanny to your list of duties?" Janeway asked just Gretchen's blanket hit the floor again. The tiny redhead's favorite game these days was seeing how many times she could get her grown ups to pick up her things when she drops them.

Neelix smiled. "Only a few times, Captain, but who am I to turn down a kind word." He stood up slowly the smile on his face never fading. "I should finish dinner before the first rush comes in. Captain, would you mind?"

Janeway looked up from Gretchen's cooing face, and smiled as she reached out the hand not keeping her daughter secured to the sofa. "Go ahead, Neelix, I think I can handle them both until Tom arrives."

"Thank you, Captain." Neelix said as he handed the infant to the Captain. He walked over to the kitchen quickly and watched the mighty Captain Janeway playing with the youngest members of her crew. The sight never ceased to amaze him.

Tom rushed into the mess hall and quickly looked around as he caught his breath. Of all the days to be late in picking up his daughter, B'Elanna was going to kill him. Tom relaxed a little when his eyes fell on the sight of Captain Janeway holding Miral in her arms while Gretchen leaned against her chewing on her puffy cloth padd toy.

"Captain." Tom said breathlessly as he approached.

Janeway looked up and smiled. "Did you finish your Captain Proton chapter, Tom?"

Tom looked dumbfounded for a moment. He hadn't told anyone he was going to the holodeck let alone which program he and Harry were going to run, but after all this time he guessed it wasn't much of a leap to come to that conclusion. "Sure did, sorry I'm late."

"Not a problem, Tom. I completely understand the need for a little down time." Janeway said as she handed the young man his daughter. "I was actually thinking of doing the same. It's been awhile since I've visited Fair Haven." Or perhaps she'd spend some time with the Maestro.

Tom gave her his best boyish smile. "Well if you need a sitter you know where I live." He made a funny face as he leaned down towards Gretchen who laughed as he blew a raspberry on her forehead. After shouting his thanks to Neelix as he picked up Miral's bag. "I'd better get her home before B'Elanna. She hasn't had the best of days."

Janeway watched as Tom and Miral hurried out of the room and once again found her self thinking of the young ensign he had mentioned before. She thought B'Elanna's idea of partnering him up was good, but maybe she would recommend a reevaluation of his placement. Perhaps there was a better area for him to serve in.

The thoughts of her crewmen were quickly interrupted by an ear-ringing squeal. "Are you trying to get my attention?" Janeway asked as she picked up the tiny girl and placed her in her lap. The child responded by smiling up at her before snuggling into her mother's arms and yawning. "Mo-mo." Gretchen said as she snuggled.

Gretchen was nearly asleep but then was suddenly wide-awake and smiling. She clapped her hands together as she announced, "Mama!"

Sure enough several seconds later the mess hall's door swished open and Seven of Nine walked in. Janeway laughed at the child's reaction to Seven's approach and entrance, which caused Seven's left brow to head skyward.

"My entrance is amazing to you?" Seven asked as she walked towards her partner and their child.

Janeway laughed a little more and then shook her head. "No, but Gretchen's reaction was. She was nearly asleep until heard you coming."

Seven sat beside Janeway and looked the child over. "Good. It is not time for her nap. She has yet to have her afternoon meal."

Janeway and Seven remained in the cozy corner of the mess hall attempting to eat their own dinners while getting more of the freshly puréed baby food Neelix had made for Gretchen into the child's mouth then on her clothes.

"Perhaps a bath is in order." Seven said with hidden amusement shining in her icy blue eyes. "And a change of uniform before you return to the bridge."

Janeway looked down at the mess they'd managed to make and laughed. "Good idea." She replied as she handed Gretchen to Seven. She tried to clean up quickly but Neelix told her he would take care of the rest.

After a quick uniform change and two stolen kisses, one on the cheek of her daughter and the other on the lips of her lover, Captain Janeway headed back to the bridge. She'd barely made it into her chair when Harry's voice called out.

"Captain, I'm picking up a shuttle craft and I believe it's trying to hail us."

"Can you identify the craft, Ensign?" Janeway asked as she looked over at the display next to her chair.

Harry looked over his scans and readouts before answering, "It appears to be a scout shuttle of some type."

"Try and get a better connection, Harry, and put the hail through." Janeway ordered.

Harry nodded and went right to work. "Aye Captain."


	3. Chapter 3

The hail coming from the stranded shuttle was weak but Harry tried his best to get a stable connection. He weeded though a mass of ions left from a passing storm and then locked down the signal pattern as soon as he was able to grab it. "I have the signal, Captain. Putting it on screen."

Captain Janeway looked up at the forward view screen and watched as the normal span of stars was replaced by the image of a young woman with red hair, blue eyes, and a rather nasty open gash near her temple that was dripping blood down her pale cheek. "This is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation starship Voyager. How can we be of assistance?"

The young woman franticly tapped at buttons as she looked into the screen. "My name is Llennodo Nonnahs. My shuttle was heavily damaged in a passing ion storm and I do not think I can make it to the closest outpost to make my repairs. I beg your kindness, Captain, and ask if you may have room for me in your shuttle bay so that I may make the repairs needed so I may make the rest of my journey safely." The young woman paused to gage the Captain's body language and then went on. "I do not have much to offer in return, but I do have some organic foods and my services."

Janeway's features soften ever so slightly as she listened to Harry who was giving her his readings on the shuttle. She didn't want to wait to long before giving an answer because the young woman's shuttle was starting to get a bit smoky.

"Engines are pretty much shot, she's pretty much costing on thrusters, there are several fractures in the hull, shielding and life support are to the bare minimum." Harry reported.

The Captain held up a hand to tell Harry that was enough. "We have plenty of room in our aft shuttle bay, Ms. Nonnahs. Allow us to guide you in with our tractor beam."

A warm smile spread slowly on the young woman's face. "Many thanks to you, Captain Janeway."

The signal was cut as Janeway began to issue orders. "Bring the shuttle into the shuttle bay nice and easy, Mister Kim. Tuvok, send a security officer down to meet our guest." She then pressed her comm. badge. "Janeway to Neelix. Neelix we have a guest coming into the aft shuttle bay. She needs medical treatment will you greet her and then see she gets to sick bay."

The Talaxian's cheery voice replied quickly. "Of course, Captain."

Janeway nodded, and grinned a little at how smoothly her crew worked together. "Mister Paris, keep us clear of that ion storm."

The shuttle was slipped into the shuttle bay with simple ease and once it was secure and she realized she was safely on the ship, Llennodo sighed in relief. She had been banking on Janeway's kindness when it came to other travelers to get her on the ship, which was the easy part. The hard part was going to be finding Bruening without giving herself away.

Llennodo grabbed her head as she stood, her surroundings suddenly swimming. 'Damn, over did it by letting that storm bounce me around so much.' She thought as she made her way to the hatch. She closed her eyes as the hatch lowered and hoped that when she reopened them her vision would be clearer. She was really hoping this was a side effect from the hyper-sprays she'd used as she was being towed in, and not the concussion she'd suffered. With her luck it was a bit of both. Normally she wouldn't still be feeling the effects of an injury this long afterwards, but she'd had to make a few modifications to herself in order to keep her cover.

"Greetings and welcome to Voyager." Came a cheerful voice from the foot of the hatch ramp. "I'm Neelix, the ship's moral officer."

Llennodo opened her eyes and looked down at the fuzzy little man. She had to restrain herself quite a bit to keep from smiling at the sight of him. "I am Llennodo. Llennodo Nonnahs. Thank you again for allowing me to dock. Your Captain is very kind."

Neelix smiled as he watched the young woman walk slowly down the hatch ramp. "That she is, Ms. Nonnahs." The gash over the young woman's eye and the unsteadiness of her stance finally caught Neelix's eye and he frowned. "Your hurt. Come on, let's get you to our medical bay."

"Thank you." Llennodo said as she gratefully accepted Neelix's help. "And please call me Llennodo."

The Doctor rushed over when he saw Neelix and a security officer enter with a pale looking young woman. He quickly helped them get her to a bio bed and then went right into his questions. "Who is this and what happened?"

"She's a guest. The Captain is allowing her to stay with us while she repairs her shuttle." Neelix said as he rose to the balls of his feet and the back again. "As far as what happened," He paused and then looked at Llennodo as the Doctor scanned her.

"I got caught in an ion storm." Llennodo said softly. Her head was pounding as she put her hand up to it as if that would make it stop. "I hit my head on my consol and got bounded around the cockpit like a pin ball."

The Doctor gave the young woman a very curious look when she'd used such a clearly human reference. 'How very Mister Paris of her.' He thought as he looked over his scans. "Well it would appear that you've reaggravated a previous head wound. Quite a nasty concussion that happened fairly recently."

Llennodo tried not to grimace as she thought of a believable story. "I fell while collecting dorgone root on Vendel Prime." She offered as an explanation. "My climbing rope was old and frayed. Lucky I hadn't gone to far up the cliff before it broke."

"Luck indeed." The Doctor scolded. "I can treat your wounds of course, but you will need some rest."

Llennodo smiled appreciatively. "My thanks, Doctor, but I do not wish to be any trouble or take up space on your vessel for any longer then needed."

"I am sure the Captain would not mind if you took a day or two to mend yourself before mending your shuttle, Miss?"

"Llennodo Nonnahs." Llennodo replied.

The Doctor smiled his trademark lop sided smile. "Miss Nonnahs." The Doctor went right to work on treating the various wounds the young woman had suffered as he directed his next words at Neelix. "Perhaps you can find our guest a place to stay while she is here?"

Neelix nodded. "Of course."

Llennodo had to admit that having the swimming sensation in her head stop was rather wonderful, as was the lessening of her pounding headache, but being stuck in sickbay while she had a job to do was nerve racking. She had to find out if Bruening was on board and in order to do that she would need access to her shuttle's computer. At the time she'd thought repairing her seemingly decrepitude shuttle would give her the perfect excuse to be in there alone scanning the crew and monitoring the ship, her wounded appearance was suppose to add to her cover not delay her search.

She sighed as she looked up at the ceiling above the bio bed she was laying on. Every minute she spent on Voyager and around her crew was a risk to not only them but to her self as well. 'This is why that whole damn project was a mistake' She thought to herself as she tried to collect her thoughts and work out a plan. The doors to sick bay opened and Llennodo lifted her head to see who was coming in. The sight of the woman standing next to the Doctor caused her breath to catch in her lungs. Seeing her on the tiny screen on the shuttle was one thing but to be seeing her standing there, mere feet from her was unreal. It wasn't like she hadn't seen her before, or that she hadn't seen her look this way before, but she was fairly younger and a woman she didn't quite know yet.

"How is our guest doing?" Captain Janeway asked the Doctor as she glanced over at the young woman on the bed.

The Doctor huffed a little. "Pretty banged up. She had inquiries that hadn't healed completely and her little dance with the ion storm added to them. She'll need rest but should be fine."

The Captain nodded and then walked over to the young woman. "How are you feeling Miss Nonnahs?"

Llennodo sat up slowly. Blue eyes locked with blue-gray for a flash of a moment before she looked down at the woman's nose rather then her eyes. "Much better, thanks to your fine doctor."

Janeway could feel the Doctor's ego expand from across the room. "That shuttle of yours has been thought a rather rough ringer."

It didn't surprise Llennodo that Janeway had scanned her shuttle. It was a security protocol. No captain would allow a stranger on board without learning at least something about them. Llennodo was suddenly really glad she'd had the three days it took to meet up with the ion storm that she knew Voyager would be passing near, to work out all her security. In effect she was hiding in plain sight. Her shuttle, thought decades more advanced appeared to be of this quadrant and time, and her own appearance was just alien enough to mask any possible identifiers. "She is an old shuttle with more light years on her then most, but she is trustworthy and gets me to where I need to go."

"And where would that be?" The Captain asked as she causally looked the young woman over.

She was being sized up and Llennodo knew it. "To where ever the work and the adventure take me." She replied. "I am some what of a fish out of water here, Captain, and I go where ever I need to in order to survive."

"A fish out of water?" Janeway asked.

The Doctor's eyebrow rose. That was another awfully human expression.

Llennodo nodded. "I am one of only a hand full of people to ever venture this far from my home world." It wasn't really a lie just an underestimation of the truth. Her ability to look Captain Janeway in the eye and weave her tale had worried Llennodo, but it had it be done and she would deal with the inner guilt once this was all over.

"How far from home are you, Miss. Nonnahs?" The Captain asked. She was being polite and welcoming, but didn't try to hide the fact that she was questioning the young woman.

"Several hundred light years. I come from a small world called Zanta Minor in the Wotrey system." Paying attention to her astrometrics and xeno biology classes was finally paying off. Everything she was feeding to the Captain could be confirmed without posing a threat to her cover.

The expression on Janeway's face shifted a little as she accepted the young woman's answers. "The Doctor would like you to rest for a day or two and my chief engineer will assign someone to lend you a hand and help you get what ever you need to make your repairs."

Llennodo smiled. "You are to kind Captain Janeway. As I said I have some supplies worth trading for anything I might need."

Janeway smiled, "I'm sure you can work something out with Mister Neelix regarding any trades."

After her conversation with the Captain, seeing her face to face as weird as it was, Llennodo knew that her decision to come here was the right one. Not that she'd ever had any doubts; she knew she couldn't allow Bruening to succeed. To many lives depended on Voyager's survival.

"Well, Llennodo are you ready to head to you quarters?" Neelix asked as he approached her.

Llennodo nodded as she slowly slipped off the bed. "Would it be alright for me to get a few things from my shuttle later?"

Neelix nodded. "The Captain has granted you full visitors rights. You're not restricted to quarters. You may come to the mess hall to eat, work on your shuttle in the shuttle bay, use our holodecks."

"Come to sick bay for follow ups." The Doctor added.

A half smile tugged Llennodo's lips as she nodded. "Yes Doctor."

She tried to act as if she was following Neelix's lead, but Llennodo knew where the small guest quarters were. She knew the lay out of Voyager as well as anyone. She had prepared for this mission as best she could; she was as prepared as anyone could be, for just about anything, except the strange emotions she was feeling. From the moment she stepped onto Voyager's deck plating she'd felt a wash of emotion that she was quickly trying to tapper down. Now that she was on the ship, and the feeling of urgency she'd harbored in her belly was slightly subduing, those emotions were strong. She had to fight her urges to smile at people she passed, or places she knew, and she was finding that she needed to speak carefully so that old habits would not assert themselves.

"Here we are." Neelix said as he opened the door and stepped inside. "They're not much, rather small, but they're all yours."

Llennodo stepped inside after Neelix and looked around. It was one room, a bed, a desk and a few drawers. There was an ensuite off to the left and a small replicator in the corner. "They're very nice Mister Neelix, thank you."

"If you need to get in touch with me or the doctor there is a comm station built into the replicator, which I'm afraid it rather limited." Neelix explained.

Llennodo assured Neelix that she didn't need much and would most likely stop by the mess hall rather then use the replicator. She even told him she was looking forward to trying his cooking. After being left alone Llennodo decided it best to wait for a while before heading to the shuttle bay, which was luckily close to her quarters, so she took the Doctor's advice and rested for a while. She stretched out on the small bed and just took in where she was. She knew she couldn't do this too often, that she had to keep herself rained in if she was going to avoid overwhelming herself, but for a brief moment she allowed herself to relish in the feeling of being home.


	4. Chapter 4

It hadn't been a long day. In fact for Voyager it had been a pretty slow day, with the only things of interest being the collection of dilithum crystals and the arrival of the young Zanta woman. The lack of excitement in the workday didn't make Janeway's desire to go home to her quarters any less strong then it was after a twenty-two hour day. The pull to go home was strong no matter what her day held. It was still such a new and odd sensation. Before Seven, before Gretchen there hadn't been this need to go back to her quarters. Sure she escaped there to relax, to curl up with a book or soak in the tub, but it had never felt like this before. She could already feel the mask she wore slipping away as she approached her quarters and when she stepped inside it had quickly been replaced by a smile.

They had to do a little redesign of the Captain's quarters in order to fit in a small area for the baby, but Janeway had been more then willing to give up the extra footage so that she and Seven could reclaim their bedroom for themselves. It was a small room that would need to be enlarged as Gretchen grew, but for now it was just perfect for her. There was a sound coming from that little room that made Janeway's smile brighten.

"You are my sunshine my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray. Do you know dear how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away."

It astonished Kathryn every time she heard Seven singing so softly, so gently, so lovingly to their daughter. Seven would be the first to explain away her voice saying that it was because of her Borg implants, but Kathryn was so sure about that. She had a feeling that the vocal sub processor had just enhanced what was naturally there. Kathryn stood there listening, smiling, as she watched Gretchen dozing off to sleep for the night. She walked in a little further when she saw Seven stand and head for the crib.

"You were listening again, Kathryn." Seven said coolly as she placed the child in the crib and covered her with the tiny pink comforter since her body suit blanket was gripped firmly in her tiny fist. Reaching down Seven gently brushed at her daughter's golden red curls as she watched her steady rhythmic breathing.

Kathryn smiled as she walked over to stand close to Seven. She put one hand on the crib and the other on the small of Seven's back. It was cute how Seven blushed when she'd been overheard. "Indeed I was."

The baby had grown so much over the last couple of months. She was also much more comfortable with her surroundings and even allowed people other then Neelix or the Doctor to look after her. Kathryn reached down and caressed her daughter's cheek and smiled. "Good night sweetheart." She whispered. "Sweet dreams."

"Did you speak with the woman in sick bay?" Seven asked as she followed Janeway out of the baby's sleeping area and into the living area.

Janeway nodded as she flopped down on the couch with a sigh. "She's a nice girl. Tuvok checked out her shuttle and the information she gave me, and it all came out clear. I've extended an offer to stay for as long as it takes to get her shuttle fix."

"Do you think that is wise?" Seven asked as took the uniform jacket her lover discarded and placed it on the back of a near by chair before settling beside her on the couch.

Kathryn shrugged at first but then answered. "She's a wayward traveler a long way from home. She's also offered to trade with us and that could lead to further trade in the long run."

Seven nodded. The two spoke of work a little more before getting lost in one of Seven's philosophical conversations.

It was late and the hallways reflected it, but that's just how Llennodo wanted it. She had asked Neelix if she could get a few things from her shuttle, but she really didn't need anyone walking in while she was working. She checked the shuttle bay carefully before entering the shuttle. After placing the fingertip of her left index finger on what appeared to be a red control button, Llennodo activated the computer. "Computer, security confirmation."

The shuttle's computer suddenly began to hum lightly. "Voice and cellular recognition conformed. Welcome back, Captain. How do you wish to proceed?"

With a slight nod of approval Llennodo went on. "Access Voyager's computer and maintain a secure undetectable link."

The computer beeped before replying. "Link established."

Llennodo kept her voice low while she gathered the things she was going to take back with her. "What is Voyager's current status?"

The computer hummed softly before reporting, "Voyager stands currently at green. All priority systems working at or above peak efficacy."

The young listened carefully to the computer's report on Voyager's status and then cut in with more orders once she was sure everything was fine. "Maintain a constant watch on the ship's status. I want to know if anything goes wrong. Also, search records and logs to see if there have been any other visitors to the ship within the two weeks."

Bruening could have come on as any number of Delta aliens. He was gifted at surgical alteration, which had only added to his usefulness as her chief of security, but made him a major pain in the ass as her target. The man had many skills that would prove a pain in the ass if she didn't catch him sooner rather then later.

"There have been no other visitors on board Voyager within that frame of time." The computer finally replied.

A long slow sigh escaped Llennodo's lungs. "Of course it wouldn't be that easy and of course he wouldn't come on as an alien. That would take to much time. He would need to gain enough trust to get near anything that could be used to destroy the ship." She paused a moment to think. "Computer, scan Voyager for anything with a temporal marker that's different from it's own."

"There are no temporal anomalies aboard the ship." The computer reported several minutes later.

'Other then us.' Llennodo thought as she stood in the middle of the shuttle with her hands planted firmly on her hips. She'd known it was a long shot. Bruening would have hidden his markers the way she'd hidden her own. Her mind desperately tried to come up with an idea, and finally she settled on a Hail Mary for now. "Computer, begin bio scans on all of Voyager's crew looking for a match to bio file gamma three three zero two."

"Those scans will take seventy eight point five hours to complete." The computer warned.

Llennodo moaned. "I don't care how long it'll take. Until I come up with a better idea this is what we're doing. And since we're keeping such a close eye on things, monitor ship's communications."

"Acknowledged."

"Good. Now go back into secure mode." She ordered. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

The gentle hum of the computer died out and Llennodo grabbed the small bag she'd packed and headed back to her quarters where she dropped it off before going to the mess hall. She was hungry and could really use a cup of coffee. There were only a few people in the mess hall when Llennodo entered and for a moment she'd wished she'd brought her tri-corder to scan who was there. The more she thought about it the more she was sure that Bruening would make his move as a crewmember. But who? And how?

"Ahh, Llennodo, you came. How are you feeling?" Neelix asked as he came out of the kitchen.

She couldn't help but smile. The simply sight of the fuzzy little man relaxed her, and that helped to clear her head a little. "Tired, but I thought I would come down to see what you had. You made everything sound so tempting."

Neelix couldn't help but beam. "How about some hlaka soup and a bit of traggle nectar."

"That sounds very nice, Mister Neelix, thank you." Llennodo said, trying hard to keep the delight out of her voice. She couldn't recall the last time she'd had hlaka soup and the thought of tasting the sweet berry nectar once again had driven out her need for coffee.

Neelix pointed the young woman towards a table and then quickly left to fetch her meal. When he returned she was looking longingly out the window, so lost in her thoughts that he hated to disturb her, especially since for the briefest of moments he'd thought he'd seen a great sadness flash in her pretty blue eyes.

"Here you are." He finally said as he placed the tray in front of her. The smile and sparkle in the young woman's eyes made Neelix smile. "It's a beautiful view isn't it?" He asked as he sat across from her.

Llennodo looked once more out the window and nodded. "Unlike anything I've seen in a very long time, Mister Neelix." She then dipped her spoon into the bowl and carefully tasted the soup. It was a struggle to keep the moan of pleasure she felt in her throat from being heard. "It's wonderful."

"I'm so glad you like it." Neelix said as he studied the woman. It almost seemed to him as if she looked like a child come home somehow. "The Captain says that you're from Zanta Minor." The young woman nodded. "Then you are quite a ways from home."

She wanted to tell him that she was closer to home then he could ever imagine but instead said, "You have no idea, Mister Neelix."

"You must miss your family." Neelix went on as he did his best to get to know the young woman and make her feel at ease. "Your home."

Llennodo suddenly stopped eating but she didn't look up from her bowl. She sat like that until she noticed that her reaction had bothered the Talaxian. "My parents and I stay in contact with each other, and we see each other when we can. They're travelers as well. But home," She paused and looked towards the window again. She had thought she'd gotten past the feelings that were threatening to bring tears to her eyes years ago, but here they were again. "Home I miss more then even I had realized."

Neelix studied her and the way she looked out the window. "Home isn't Zanta Minor, is it?"

Bright blue eyes twitched in a surprise. Llennodo looked at Neelix, unsure what to say, but then she figured the best undercover stories had an element of truth in them. "No, not really. Like I said, my parents are explorers, they always have been. I was born in space and spent the better part of my childhood there. I took my first steps on the deck of my mother's ship. My first day of school was in a mess hall much like this one." She laughed softly. "My first crush was an alien boy whose entire species is annoying and it drove my mother insane."

Neelix gave the young woman a warm and reassuring smile as he listened to her. He could tell just by looking at the way she beamed that she loved that life, and that she adored her parents. "Then something sad happened?"

Llennodo sighed. She looked back down at her soup as she sloshed the spoon around. When she looked back up at Neelix she said, "They went home; back to their home world."

"You mean your home world?" Neelix asked carefully.

The young woman shook her head. "No, my home, my whole world, was my mother's ship. Their home world was just another planet."

Neelix's look of concern changed a little as he admitted. "There are those among us here on Voyager that I worry will feel the same as you do."

Llennodo reached out and put her hand on top of his and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Don't worry, Mister Neelix, even if they do they'll still have the love and support of their family. I get the feeling that Voyager is much more a community then most ships' crews. They're much more then just crewmates, they're neighbors, friends, and even family."

Neelix brighten at that. "How right you are young lady."


	5. Chapter 5

The dreams had started out intense. An unconscious reliving of the conflicts that had left a young lieutenant from tactical the only ranking officer with any kind of command experience on board a half destroyed, under attack, ship with only a quarter of it's original crew still alive. She and the remaining crew had managed to fend off the enemy, causing enough damage that the enemy was easily defeated when reinforcements arrived. The ship then crawled back to Deep Space Nine with nothing more then thrusters and life support. A field promotion to Commander and a reassignment as first officer to a ship with a familiar face in command had followed only a week of recuperation.

The dreams began to become slightly more pleasant as she relived meeting him on her new ship, but the conflict was still all around them and she seemed to thrash the bed harder as she saw bits and pieces of battles that had long since be buried in her mind. Only when she dreamt of him and how they had grown close, did she seem to ease enough in her sleep that her movements calmed, which in turn allowed her sweat drenched body to relax into the comforting Starfleet issued mattress.

After the conflicts had been won and the enemy defeated, her ship had returned to Earth. She was war worn and had been granted an extra long shore leave to recover. She had retreated, alone, to a cabin near a lake in the middle of waves of Earth grown, sun bright, stocks of gold. Her parents had worried about her. They had come to her at the cabin time and time again and each time the need to be alone and the need to be with them wrestled inside her.

Three months had gone by before she had been recalled to duty, but she was not returning the same woman, the same officer she had been. Many had been lost in the battles but many more had come home safely. The fleet had been thinned but the best of the best had remained. She was young, one of the youngest to be given the rank of Captain and her own command, since the end of the Dominion War. It was her job to look over the rebuilding of one of the fleet's strongest ships. An Intrepid class no less. When they were ready to launch, it had thrilled her to no end to see him standing on the bridge talking to her first officer as her security chief. They had grown even closer during their time together on her ship, and despite the many warnings she got about a captain's place among her officers and crossing certain lines, she let him get even closer.

Those memories of him made her relax. She no longer thrashed around on the bed, tearing at the sheets, and pounding her fists into the mattress. The moments alone in the mess hall, in her quarters, his bed, even the fights she'd had with her mother about a Captain's place among the crew had eased the fight in her. Then everything had changed. He was not who he had been before she'd went to the cabin. He'd become dark and hatful. Fighting the new ideas of peace, making him self heard over everyone at the councils that reviewed the conflicts.

Word came to her that someone was after the new technology being developed at the Cochran research colony, and that it was her job to find out who. It had taken six months and it had nearly killed her to find out that it had been him. He wanted the technology because he wanted to destroy the object that he blamed the conflicts for. He wanted to destroy Voyager.

Her dreams became dark again and everything she saw was shrouded in an eerie red light while the beat of an alert klaxon rang in her ears and through her bones. Llennodo sat straight up in bed and gasped for air. It took her a moment to realize she was awake since everything in her quarters appeared bathed in the darkness and flashing red of her dream. The red alert was real. She quickly reached over to the nightstand, her hand nearly coming down on the comm control so she could order a report from the bridge, but then she suddenly remembered she wasn't on her ship. She wasn't the captain here.

"Computer what's going on?" She called out.

The computer's voice never changed. It was still that very female, in some ways very sarcastic, clipped voice. It actually kind of reminded her of an ambassador she'd met once or twice. "The ship has been placed on red alert. All non essential personal are to stay in their quarters until the ship returns to green."

Llennodo sighed as she rubbed her face. Not being able to do anything was an awful feeling. She felt helpless and it was hard to fight the urge to get up, get dressed, and head for the bridge. The red alert lasted a good half hour but it took nearly two for Llennodo to relax. Something didn't seem right. There was a knot in her gut that was telling her that something big was going on, and that it had something to do with him. Bypassing breakfast, Llennodo headed right for the shuttle bay. She wanted to find out for herself what had happened that morning and knew no one would tell her so she had to find out for herself. "Computer, security confirmation."

The computer identified her quickly and Llennodo went right to work. She was able to access the ship's log though the link she'd created and went wide eyed at what she saw. There had been a breach in the dilithum containment field at the same time as a rupture in the bio gel packs surrounding the breached area. Someone had tried to blow up the ship and make it appear a freak mistake.

"He must be an engineer." She said aloud. Then tapped a few buttons. "Computer, access the communications relay in the conference room and play audio here."

Llennodo picked up a small ear piece that would allow her to over hear the morning meeting of Voyager's senior staff without worrying that anyone working out in the shuttle bay would over hear. She listened as B'Elanna explained that it appeared that both problems were simply caused from the extreme wear and tear the ship had been under lately, but there was something in her tone of voice that told Llennodo that she wasn't convinced of this. B'Elanna knew every square centimeter of this ship the way no one else ever could, and now she'd be on her toes.

The rest of the meeting was pretty much the same old thing with repairs taking priority. Once the meeting was over Llennodo shut down the comm. link and went right to accessing not only the ship's log, but crew logs as well. She needed to pin down a point in time in which Bruening would have had the opportunity to get on board. This morning's events clearly showed Llennodo that she had no time to waste. "Computer monitor all the ship's systems. I want to know the moment anything or anyone affects the way this ship runs. I don't just want you to flag it either I want to be notified."

"Open communication could risk detection." The computer warned her.

Llennodo signed. "Mask it someone how. Voyager's computer shouldn't be able to detect my comm. signal, it's a lot less sophisticated and nowhere near as advanced as you are."

The computer chirped as Llennodo opened a secure compartment and removed her comm. badge from her stashed uniform. She pinned it to the inside of her shirt and then resecured the compartment. Then she settled into a chair to start reviewing some of what the computer had gathered and while she did so she had the computer run a medical scan to make sure she didn't need to take another dose of the enzymes masking her bio-signature and other telling things.

"You don't think that the breaches this morning were merely an accident, do you?" Chakotay asked as he turned in his chair to face Janeway.

Captain Janeway's gaze was glued to the engineering report that B'Elanna had turned in. "Something just doesn't feel right." She finally said in response to her first officer's question.

Chakotay nodded. "B'Elanna feels the same way. I could see it in her eyes."

"She knows this ship better then anyone." Janeway offered. Then suddenly she stood up. "I'll be in Astrometrics. Perhaps there's something in the scans we're missing. You have the bridge, Commander."

Seven of Nine stood at her station looking over her recent scans. She had both internal scans and special scans displayed in front of her. B'Elanna had asked her to run her own ship scans, and she had her own work to complete. Seven started out looking for something that could explain the sudden malfunctions, but was diverted by readings of two strange spaceal anomalies. Small, unknown, two separate locations, and at two different times, but they appeared to leave behind identical readings. They would have been missed on normal scans and most likely would have been missed by anyone not looking for something odd.

"Seven, report." Janeway said as soon as she walked into the Astrometrics lab.

Seven didn't turn from her consoles as she looked up at the image she'd just placed on the screen. "I have found two anomalies that I have never seen before."

Janeway walked over and stood next to Seven as she looked up at the scans. "That first one was near the moon that B'Elanna and her team were on."

"Yes, and it appears to be older then the second. I am still analyzing the data." Seven said coolly.

The spark of intrigue in Seven's eyes made Janeway smile as she nodded. "Keep me informed."

There was a soft knock on the shuttle's hatch and Llennodo quickly stopped what she was doing and started acting as if she were pulling out burnt out warp coils. She reached up and released the hatch and then sat up slowly as she heard footsteps walking up the ramp.

"I didn't see you at breakfast this morning and I thought I'd bring you something." Neelix said as he walked over towards the young woman. He wasn't quiet sure what it was about her, but after their conversation over dinner the night before he had a strong sense of wanting to take care of her.

Llennodo smiled as she stood, wiping her hands on a rag she pulled from her pocket, but then she froze at the sight of the double stroller and the infants who were snuggled inside. If seeing Janeway in sickbay had felt unreal to her then she couldn't even explain how she felt now.

Neelix looked at Llennodo and then down at Gretchen and Miral. "Oh that's right you haven't meet yet. Llennodo may I introduce Gretchen Janeway and Miral Paris."

She tried hard to recover and to smile despite the headache she felt coming on. "They're beautiful."

The Talaxian beamed and then handed Llennodo a small basket of warm bread, cheese, and coffee. "There may not be anyone available to help you today, but I'm sure if you give me a list of things you need I can see to getting them."

Llennodo was quick to pull out the small thermos of coffee and tried not to look as if she were dying for a cup. Once she had a steaming cup full and had taken a long sip, she reached over and picked up a padd. "It's only a few things for now. I'm not sure how much damage there is yet."

She handed the padd to Neelix and then took another long sip. "I've also added a list of the things I have to offer in trade." She'd done just enough research before she left to know that everything on that list was something Voyager needed. "Pick what you'd like and I'll see to having it ready for you."

There was something vaguely familiar about the expression on the young woman's face as she drank her coffee. It was the kind of face the Captain made after a long night, the look she got with that very first sip of the day. Tom called the expression a coffeegasm. Neelix smirked at the thought and chalked it up to something coffee people did. "Burousin boiling beans?"

Llennodo smiled, put her cup down, and then went over to an overhead compartment. She reached inside and bit her lip until she found what she was looking for. She then handed the small tan bag to Neelix. "They make an unbelievable coffee that I think your Captain will enjoy immensely."

Neelix smiled as he accepted the bag. "I'll have to make some for dinner."

"I'll look forward to it." Llennodo replied.

Once Neelix had left Llennodo just stood near the hatch looking at the shuttle bay doors. 'Ok that little encounter had to do something not good to the time line.' She thought as she sighed. Shaking off her odd thoughts she went back to work. She needed to find Bruening before he attempted another take down. Going back to her workstation she tried to think of what he might be trying. She'd worked with him long enough to know how he operated, but that was before he went batshit crazy and totally off the rails. Finally she asked, "Computer, have any of these components been replicated or are there any on board?" The computer took in what she'd typed and ran a search. Voyager had two of the things she'd listed, everything else would have to be replicated but there was no sign of that happening. "Computer, if any of those components are replicated notice me ASAP." Llennodo pressed her thumb and forefinger of her left hand to the corners of her eyes as the right hand settled on her hip. "Please don't let him build a freaking bomb."


	6. Chapter 6

The engineering teams had made good time on getting the repairs made, but B'Elanna wasn't taking any chances and had added extra crews to maintenance. It was staring to get late and she didn't feel like being woke up at three in the morning by a blaring klaxon and a wailing infant again. She checked the last of her diagnostics and then headed out of her office and on her way home, but she suddenly stopped when she noticed a crewman out of place.

"Delvine what are you doing here?" She asked as she glared at him and crossed her arms over her chest.

The young man turned slowly. "I was finishing the tests on the, um, the thrusters you wanted."

B'Elanna tried hard not to sigh, huff, roll her eyes, or lose her temper. "I asked you to do that hours ago."

The young man blushed as he looked at the tops of his boots. "I know Ma'am. It's just that I got caught up in the repairs and was unable to get to it until now."

"Next time do it when I ask for it, Delvine." B'Elanna told him before looking around the room. Her gaze fell on a young woman near the warp core. "Davis, run a level one clarity test on thruster control."

"Aye Lieutenant." The young woman replied before moving off to do as she was ordered.

There was another flash in Delvine's eyes much like there had been when she'd assigned him a partner. "I could have completed that, Lieutenant."

B'Elanna turned to look at him. "You could have completed it when I asked for it. Your shift is over Delvine, and Mahoney has gone home so that means should have gone too."

"But Lieutenant." Delvine protested.

"No buts Ensign. You're dismissed." She ordered. The young man looked as if he was going to protest yet again but she gave him a stern look and then watched as the young man slipped out of engineering.

Llennodo sat alone in the mess hall enjoying Neelix's root stew when the earpiece in her ear beeped. The computer's voice was low and only she could hear it's warning. "There is a ninety-seven percent blockage in the thruster conduits."

She could feel her blood rising and her pulse quicken. She needed to get to her shuttle to find out where the blockage was and find a way to warn the late shift in engineering. She'd just pushed her chair back when she heard a loud grumble to her left.

"What do you mean there's a blockage in the conduits?" B'Elanna huffed as she got to her feet and threw her napkin onto her plate. The voice coming over B'Elanna's comm. badge explained what was happening and it made B'Elanna growl. "I'm on my way." She huffed before looking down at her husband. "I swear one of these days I'm going to push Delvine out an air lock. He's getting worse."

Llennodo was going to wait a few moments and then head to her shuttle. She didn't want it to seem as if she were reacting to what she'd just heard. She knew that after last night B'Elanna was going to look at every system with a fine toothcomb, and she trusted that the woman would keep the ship safe, which left her to kind of look over B'Elanna's unknowing shoulder to see if she could figure out who had tampered with the thrusters. Once she felt it was safe to leave, Llennodo stood and made her way for the door but was suddenly stopped.

"How are your repairs going, Ms. Nonnahs?" Captain Janeway asked as Llennodo passed her.

In her head Llennodo was saying every dirty word she knew to the point of being glad there were no telepaths on board. "Slowly I'm afraid, Captain. The ion storm caused more damage then I thought. I should have it repaired enough to be out of your hair within the next day or so." She replied to the auburn haired woman who'd been sitting on the cluster of couches near the door. She offered the Captain a smile and froze when she noticed the woman and child sitting next to her. 'So not good for the time line.' She thought. Blue eyes locked with icy blue eyes for several seconds before Janeway's voice through and forced Llennodo to blink.

"Ms. Nonnahs, this is Seven of Nine." Janeway introduced. "She's my partner and Astrometrics officer."

The two greeted each other with a slight nod of their headed before Seven asked,

"How did you get caught in the ion storm?"

There was a knot in Llennodo's throat that she needed to swallow down before she could speak. "A foolish desire to examine the phenomenon, I'm afraid."

Seven looked at the woman, studying her. The way she stood, the way she moved, her eyes, the way she held a coffee cup, the way she spoke. She took it all in and then lifted a brow. "Then you are a scientist?"

Llennodo smiled a little. "Not officially no, but I do have an overwhelming sense of curiosity that I inherited from my parents. It's gotten me into quite a lot of trouble over the years."

"You're parents are scientists?" Seven asked before looking down at Gretchen who was trying to grasp her comm. badge and pull it off her chest. She carefully redirected the child's hands to a toy and then looked back up at Llennodo.

"Yes." The young woman answered. "Kind of. They were explorers."

Janeway could see the unease in the young woman and decided to stop Seven's inquiry. "Neelix tells me you're the one who gave him the new coffee beans. This is a wonderful blend. Thank you."

Llennodo beamed. "I know how you much you enjoyed your coffee, and wanted to thank you for allowing me to stay on your ship. I have several more pounds stashed in my shuttle. I'd be more then happy to share."

For a moment Janeway wondered how the young woman had known about her addiction, but figured that Neelix must have said something. "I apologize for not being able to spear anyone to help you today, Ms. Nonnahs, but we had a problem that required everyone to make repairs to Voyager."

"It's quite alright, Captain." Llennodo replied. "I'm pretty good at patching her up on my own, besides, Voyager's safety is far more important."

There was something in the woman's eyes when she said Voyager was important that caught not only Janeway's attention but also Seven's. Once the young woman excused herself Seven turned to Janeway and quietly said, "Something about her intrigues me."

Janeway nodded. "I know the feeling." She smiled down at her daughter as Gretchen held up her toy to share. "My instincts are telling me to keep an eye on her, but they're not screaming at me that she's any kind of threat."

Llennodo took deep breaths as she headed back to the shuttle bay. She'd been on Voyager a little more then twenty-four hours and so far she'd had way to many encounters with Janeway and her child and now Seven, and she wasn't any closer to finding Bruening, though she was sure he was the one causing all the malfunctions. This of course meant he was posing as an engineer, but which one, and how did he make the switch?

Not for the first time while she sat alone in her shuttle looking over logs, Llennodo wondered if maybe all those admirals back home were right. Maybe she had been the wrong person for this assignment. She was to close to the target, to close to Voyager and her people, to emotionally entangled. But then again who better to send than someone who knew the ship inside and out? Who knew her crew and how they worked and how they thought? And who better then someone who had the emotional ties because she would be someone who wouldn't stop? But at what cost would her determination come?

She needed to clear her mind and get back on track. She bit her bottom lip hard and then nodded. B'Elanna had a close eye on all the ship's systems which would make it harder for Bruening to use the ship against it's self, her computer was monitoring the ship as well, so that would give her a few moments to collect her thoughts and she could only think of one place to do that.

The scans on Seven's screen intrigued the ex-Borg. The anomalies she had found earlier seemed to be tears in space it's self. She was downloading data on the tears while scanning for warp movement in the area when the door to the lab opened. She didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

"I thought you were only going to be here for an hour more." Kathryn asked as she and Gretchen approached. "You must have something good if you decided to miss bath time."

Seven nodded. Out of the corner of her eye she watched Kathryn set Gretchen on her feet on the raised stage in front of the bank of control consoles. Gretchen was learning to stand and would only do it as long as she could hold onto someone's hands. "Voyager did not pass the spaceal anomalies I detected earlier. I am however picking up scattered warp signatures, both of which seem to be familiar."

Janeway turned to look at Seven as she asked, "Familiar how?"

"They seem to be federation in origin." Seven reported as she finally looked up to meet her Captain's eyes. "I will need more time to confirm or deny their identify and chart their courses."

"Were you able to get anything on what the anomalies are?" Janeway asked as she placed Gretchen on her hip and moved over to stand beside Seven. As she looked over the information on Seven's screens she kept batting at Gretchen's hands to keep her from pressing buttons.

"A tear in space." Seven replied and then paused. She knew that the other woman wasn't going to like what she had to say next.

Both of Janeway's auburn eyebrows raised in question as she asked, "A tear in space?"

Seven nodded. "And perhaps time."

Janeway blinked that rather odd blink she had from time to time, when she would close both eyes and then open them one at a time. "Gather what you can and present it at the morning meeting." Seven nodded and then Janeway changed her tone of voice. "Well Gee Jay, looks like Mama is going to be working late. How about you and I go and visit the Maestro." The girl in her arms kicked and cooed and Janeway smiled.

The late summer sun was just beginning to sink beneath the landscape of Florence. The colors and shadows it caused never lost its affect on Llennodo. It always took her breath away. Being in Maestro Di Vinci's workshop always helped her clear her mind. It was one of her favorite places to be, a place to feel safe as she worked out a problem, a place where she could think outside the box and not be chastised. Llennodo looked out the window watching the sunset and listening to the fire crackling in the fireplace behind her. Her thoughts where becoming clear, but instead of finding answers to her questions she seemed to only find more questions. The biggest one being was it fair to keep the threat of destruction a secret from the crew? Surely she would be able to find Bruening easier with their help, right? But that would mean defying the temporal prime directive, and she wasn't sure how comfortable she was with doing that.

"Ahh my Catarina! I was hoping you would come to see me today." A booming voice called out from behind Llennodo. "I have something new I wish for us to..." He stopped when the young red haired woman who'd been standing at the window with her arms crossed across her chest, turned to face him. "You are not my Catarina."

Her face couldn't help but light up at the sight of the old man with his long silver beard. "I beg your forgiveness, Maestro." Llennodo said as she titled her head down in a respectful greeting. "I did not mean to disturb you. I am a guest of your Catarina's. A traveler in need of solace during her long quest."

Di Vinci smiled. "Well, well a friend of my dearest apprentice is always welcome in my home, and do not fret child, you did not disturb me. I was out finishing my sketches and came in for the warmth of a cup of tea, or perhaps something a little stronger."

Llennodo smiled and walked over to the Maestro when he beckoned her to come to him. She looked down at his drawings in awe. She still couldn't match his graceful stroke not even after all these years.

Di Vinci looked down into the pretty face of the young woman beside him and could once again see in her his Catarina and perhaps even a touch of her beloved. He could also see much distress and fear in her eyes. "Tell me of this quest of yours child." He said as he picked up a clear sheet of parchment and began to draw while she poured them both some tea.

She needed, wanted, to talk about what was going on and for a moment she wondered if confiding in the hologram was safe. After looking around for a long moment she took a deep breath and gave in. "I am looking for someone who means to do harm to my loved ones, Maestro, and I do not know how to find him let alone stop him."

The Maestro kept looking up at her and then down at his parchment as he spoke. "A noble quest, to protect the lives of those you hold most dear. Tell me, you know who the scandal is do you not?"

Llennodo nodded. "I know what he looked like when he was in my land, but he has disguised himself and has hidden himself among my loved ones. I think I know of which guild he has hidden himself within, but as to what he looks like or what his name is, I have no clue."

Di Vinci continued to draw. "Does he know of you?" Again Llennodo nodded. "Then perhaps you should let him know you are here as well. A coward who sneaks around to do ill will, will surely make a mistake when he knows his demise is close at hand."

Llennodo blinked. That actually made sense. "But Maestro, the problem is that my loved ones do not know why I am among them, they do not know who I truly am."

"You are deceiving them as well?" Di Vinci asked with disapproving eyes. "Would not telling them about the treat be wiser? Why must you deceive them?"

"There are laws that prevent me from doing so." She explained.

The old man smiled a bright smile. "Laws are all well and good and they serve a purpose, but laws do not know what it is to live, which is why they are sometimes open for a little creative tinkering."

Llennodo laughed. "Some rules are meant to be broken?"

"For a good reason." The old man said with a gentle chuckle.

She would have said something more but there was a gentle beep in her ear. "Excuse me a moment, Maestro." She stood and walked across the room. After tapping her hidden comm. badge she told the computer to go ahead with it's warning. She listened carefully and dropped her head.

"Such great burdens for such young shoulders." Di Vinci said as he came up behind the young woman and put a hand on her shoulder. "One of the good things about having people you love around you is that they are often willing and very able to help carry your burdens."

It was a bit of surprise to see her program at the top of the holodeck's history list, but Janeway figured that the Doctor had opted to take another art lesson from the Maestro. A small smile tugged on her lips as she activated the program. The Maestro and the Doctor were a sight to see when they got together and she suddenly wished the Doctor had mentioned he was going to visit; she would have come with him.

"Good evening, Catarina." Di Vinci said once he saw the woman emerge from behind an easel. He smiled at the sight of the child in her arms. "You have brought your little one to see me."

Janeway smiled. "Good evening, Maestro. I hope we're not disturbing you."

Di Vinci smiled and picked up the parchment he had been working on earlier. "You my dear never disturb me. I was attempting to finish this sketch before I retired for the evening." He looked at the child in his Catarina's arms as his hand moved freely over the paper. He then turned the parchment over and asked. "Tell me my dear apprentice what do you see?"

Janeway walked closer to the old man and studied the images before her. "Gretchen's eyes." She said with a bright smile.

"Both sets?" He asked as he smiled at the child and offered her a wooden toy.

Janeway looked at the parchment more closely. The smaller set of eyes were clearly her daughter's, but so were the larger set, she was sure of it. The only difference she could see was that the master artist had aged them and added a look that said those eyes had bared the weight the world the world. "Yes, I'm sure."

"Then you have not been as observant as I know you can be, Catarina." He told her firmly. "Because you have missed what is right in front of your face."


	7. Chapter 7

The conference room cleared out quickly after the morning staff meeting. There had been yet another engineering mishap during the night and Janeway knew now that it was more then just wear and tear. Finding out what was going on was priority now, everything else including Seven's scans had been put on hold, but when Seven had followed Janeway to her ready room Janeway knew her Astrometrics officer wasn't going to let her investigation go so easily. In a way Janeway was grateful for this. Her instincts were screaming at her that there was more going on here then she realized and that somehow their guest was involved.

"What do you have, Seven?" Janeway asked as she poured herself another cup of coffee and then leaned against her desk.

Seven stood in front of Janeway with a padd in her hand. "I found two warp signatures coming from the rips in space I showed you yesterday." When Janeway's eyes flickered Seven knew she had the older woman's full attention. "The first trail ended somewhere near the moon in which Lieutenant Torres and her team had mined the dilithum."

"And the second?" Janeway asked suddenly leery of the answer. Her conversation with Di Vinci had left her on edge. She wasn't comfortable with what he'd been hinting at.

"Was lost inside an ion storm." Seven answered very mater of factly.

Janeway reached out for the padd that Seven held and the younger woman handed it over without a word. The second ship's course was charted to the ion storm, the same ion storm they had avoided, the same ion storm that had tossed around Llennodo's ship. Janeway took a deep breath and then put the padd down. "I think it's time I had a real conversion with our guest."

The crew logs had been amazing to watch but nothing in them was helping Llennodo find Bruening. If she couldn't find him by lunch she was going to go to Janeway and tell her what was going on, or at least that's what she was telling herself. She was even practicing what she was going to say in her head as she called up yet another duty log. "Computer, play the next chief engineer's log." She called out as she reached for a fresh cup of coffee. B'Elanna's face appeared on the small screen as Llennodo sat down and she couldn't help but smile. The look on the woman's face told her someone had pissed her off.

"We nearly missed getting back to Voyager on time. I don't know what's wrong with this guy, I mean he's had nearly seven years to get use to his job but he still acts as if he's green and fresh from the Academy. I had thought he was getting better, he was for a while, but lately he's slipped back into old patterns." B'Elanna paused as she pinched the bridge of her nose and then suddenly went on. "Oh and then to top it all off when Delvine finally did come out of the cave he acted as if the collection tub he was hulling weighed as much as a small shuttle. Turns out he'd only filled it about half full. I really don't know what I'm going to do with him. I can't expect Mahoney to baby-sit forever."

"Computer pause playback." Llennodo called out suddenly. "Delvine. She was complaining about him in the mess hall last night." Llennodo said aloud as something in her gut told her to look into the details of the away mission B'Elanna had been talking about. She had to be getting close. She was running out of time. The call she'd gotten while she was on the holodeck had been the computer telling her that some of the components on her list had been replicated. This morning she'd been awoke with news that more had been replicated. The good news was that Bruening was falling back on a plan of action she was familiar with, the bad knew was that that plan of action involved bombs.

"Computer scan for the bio signs of an Ensign," She looked down at her screen with B'Elanna's report and nodded. "Ensign Markus Delvine."

It only took a moment for the computert to come back with the answer that Llennodo had expected. "There are no biological readings for Markus Delvine on board Voyager."

She could feel her pulse quicken. She felt like she was finally on the right track. "What about his comm. badge?"

The computer beeped and then replied. "The comm. signal assigned to Markus Delvine is active and on board."

Llennodo couldn't help but smile as she shot to her feet. "Where is it?"

"Jeffries tube 37, section 4B, level 2." Came the computer's reply.

Without hesitation Llennodo moved over to where the secured overhead was and opened it. She shifted through her things until she found her phaser and pulled it out. As she attached her holster to her hip she ordered, "Scan the body attached to the comm. badge for bio signatures."

This request took a little longer then the others but it gave her time to reach for her restraints and a transporter tag. When the computer did reply it was music to Llennodo's ears. "The scans match the biological signatures in bio file gamma three three zero two."

Llennodo's smile was as bright as it had been in a long time. "I've finally found you, you son of a bit.."

"Such colorful language, Ms. Nonnahs."

Llennodo spun around on her heel wide eyed. "Captain Janeway."

The look on the Captain's face was hard and expressionless. It was her command mask at it's most severe. She walked closer to the young woman, taking in her surroundings, her gaze falling upon the phaser at the woman's side before meeting the other woman's eyes. She didn't say anything at first, she simply looked at the woman, and then finally she said. "Who are you and why are you on my ship?"

Llennodo was frozen in place under Janeway's stare. She could feel the knot forming in her stomach that always twisted her insides when she was on the other end of that look. Llennodo took a deep breath forcing her self to be the Starfleet captain she was trained to be rather then the child she felt like. "I'm not a threat, Captain. I'm here to help you."

Janeway looked the woman in the eyes, refusing to turn away from what she saw there, though she wasn't sure she wanted to see it. "You lied to gain access to my ship, how does this not make you a threat?"

"Because I came here to help you and the only way I could get onto Voyager was to lie." Llennodo replied. Her mind was spinning trying to think of Janeway's next question before she asked it, but Janeway wasn't predicable. How much should she tell her? How can she explain without doing damage to anything? This kind of dilemma was the reason she thought the temporal project was a mistake. The temporal prime directive was in place for when something like this happened accidently, would it be able to withstand straight up sanctioned time travel?

Janeway's voice became as cold as ice as she asked again, "Who are you?" She was tired of games and wanted to know what the hell was going on onboard her ship. "And don't bother lying, I know about the tear in space that your ship caused. I know that its temporal signature is different then this time's and I know the wrap signature it left behind is Federation."

The breath trapped in Llennodo's lungs made the woman feel as if her chest were burning. Her heart was pounding so loud she was sure the other woman could hear it. She should have known that something like this would happen with Seven manning Astrometrics and Janeway's need to poke at things. "I can't tell you who I am." She finally admitted. "All I can tell you is that I'm here to help, and that I need you to trust me."

"What did you say Ensign?" Seven asked as she worked. Harry had come in to work on an internal scan that B'Elanna requested and had been chatting as per usual. Seven had every intention of ignoring him as she normally did but something he'd just said had caught her ear.

Harry looked up from what he was doing with a smile. "It's just a game I play when I'm doing routine things like this. I try to see if I can spell words from other words backwards, but they have to be real words with real meanings. I was asking if you'd noticed that if you spell Llennodo Nonnahs backwards you get Shannon O'Donnell."

Seven looked at Harry oddly for a moment as she processed her thoughts and then she suddenly turned and left the room. The Captain had asked her to find out more about the spaceal tears and about the woman who was hold up in their shuttle bay, but nothing she was looking at was helping. As she headed for sickbay to get a medical tri-corder she wondered if this burning sensation in her abdomen was the pull of human instinct that Janeway talked about.

"So you expect me to believe that someone has come back in time nearly thirty years, to take the place of one of my crewmen in order to destroy my ship," Janeway repeated after hearing Llennodo's explanation. "And you've come here to stop him. Why? Why should I believe you? Why should I not think that it's you causing all the malfunctions."

Llennodo was becoming more and more frustrated. She'd explained that she was here to get Bruening and that he was here to blow up the ship, and that he had stolen an experimental temporal drive. She didn't want to give her every detail, figuring that her safest bet in maintaining the integrity of the time line was to keep it at a minimum but Janeway wasn't having any of it. Llennodo stood there with one hand on her hip, her eyes closed, and her other hand pinching the bridge of her nose, it was an almost perfect imitation of how Janeway looked.

"Captain," She finally said when she opened her eyes. "This isn't the first time you've run into a situation like this."

Janeway was taken aback at the young woman's stance but didn't show it. She knew who she was looking at but for some odd reason her brain just wouldn't or couldn't make that final leap. She could already feel the headache settling in, and the mention of her past run ins with time just made it worse. "You're from the Relativity?"

Llennodo shook her head. "No. Relativity is far far more advanced and way way down the time line. I have worked with them though which is how I know you and Seven have worked with them as well."

The computer beeped at her. It warned her that more components had been replicated.

Llennodo sighed in frustration. "Computer, take all of Voyager's replicators off line and maintain a lock on that bio-sign."

"Now you wait just a minute!" Janeway protested when the computer acknowledged the command. She was about to tap her comm. badge to call security but didn't get a chance. The young woman standing across from her shot her hand out and grabbed hold of her wrist.

"There's a man on this ship building a set of bombs." The younger woman said in a hard, firm tone. "I don't have time for your doubt. I need you to trust me."

Janeway started into the young woman's eyes. She watched the play of emotion there as she said, "You've done nothing but lie since you got here. Why should I trust you?"

"Because up until now I've never really lied to you!" Llennodo said heatedly.

An auburn brow rose as Janeway asked, "Never really lied?"

Llennodo was frustrated and before she could stop herself she said, "Anything I may or may not have done as a kid, like the time I said I was going rock climbing with Naomi, but really followed the away team to the abandoned Hirogen ship, doesn't count."

"You might as well tell her the truth." Seven said as she boarded the shuttle. "We are all aware of who you are even if some of us are having a hard time accepting it." She looked pointedly at Janeway before allowing her gaze to take in the younger of the two redheads.

Both Janeway and Llennodo looked at Seven. Seven didn't say another word she simply walked over and scanned Llennodo with her tri-corder.

"That isn't going to work." Llennodo told the tall blonde woman. "Not without using this." She reached up to her secure overhead and pulled out a hyperspray, which she handed to Seven. She watched as Seven scanned it, she watched as the ex-Borg's left eyebrow rose, and then titled her head to the side as the woman injected her. The moment the contents mixed into her blood stream her nanoprobes came out of their dormant state and the pathogen masking her bio-signature was quickly targeted, as were the surgical implants she'd used to hide the silver of metal over her right eye, the half starbrust behind her left ear, and the full starbrust on the back of her left hand.

Janeway blinked, her mouth open in a surprised oh shape, and her hand reaching out to touch the face of the young woman standing before her. She brushed her fingers over the implants and then looked once more into the young woman's blue eyes. How had she not seen this the moment she saw her on the view screen? "Gretchen?"

The young woman smiled weakly and a bit sheepishly as she said, "Hi Mom."


	8. Chapter 9

The three women just stood in Gretchen's shuttle staring at each other. Janeway kept looking down at the bio scan that Seven had taken of the young woman standing in front of them, and then back up at the woman herself. Suddenly the smallest things that she had noticed about the young woman made sense, the way she placed her hands on her hips, her like for coffee, the fact she had retreated to Maestro Da Vinci's studio, the fact that she liked Neelix's cooking. Janeway looked over at Seven who seemed to be studying the young woman as well.

"You know this means that someone from the Relativity will be along to rearrange you memory anagrams." Gretchen finally said when the stillness between them became too much for her. "And I know how much you loooove dealing with the Relativity."

"Now is not the time for sarcasm young lady." Janeway scolded. It was such a natural response that it started Janeway a little. By the look on Gretchen's face it had startled her as well, but now the girl just looked amused. "Why didn't you just tell us who you were?"

"I had to try to do this without involving you." Gretchen replied. "And there's the whole temporal prime directive thing."

Seven lifted her left brow at the tone of the young woman's voice. There was something there that sounded to be more then just someone doing their duty, but she guessed that this would be personal for the young woman. She was trying to save the lives of her family as well as her past self.

The command mask had slipped for a moment when Janeway realized she was staring into the face of her adult child, but the situation was drifting back to the forefront of her mind and the mask was once again put into place. She lifted one hand while the other went onto her hip and opened her mouth to say something but was cut off when Gretchen stepped over to a console and started working. Apparently there was a lot of Seven's habits ingrained into the young woman as well. Sparing a glance at Seven she could see the faintest hint of a smirk on her lips.

"Can we save the lecture for oh say thirty years?" Gretchen asked as she unlocked the computer system she had hidden. "Right now you have one of my ex-crewmen onboard and he's hell bent on destroying this ship and everyone on it."

Both Seven and Janeway walked over to where Gretchen was and looked over the information the young woman was calling up. She showed them the bio scans and the signature for the experimental drive. "Not only do we need to find Bruening, who's pretending to be your Markus Delvine, but we need to find the drive he stole. My guess is that it was in the create of dilithum that Lanna said was only half full when they opened it."

"How did you know about the create being only half full?" Janeway asked as she looked over at her daughter. Her head was really starting to pound. Her daughter was in the mess hall with Neelix, and yet there she stood all grown up and beautiful. She was tall like Seven, but more athletically curvy like herself. Her eyes were lighter then her own, but darker than Seven's, and her hair was still red like her own had been as a child, it never darkened the way hers had and Janeway figured it had something to do with Seven's being blonde.

Gretchen blushed. "Um, I've kinda been looking at crew logs and monitoring ship wide communications." Having her mothers know who she was suddenly made Gretchen feel odd about the things she'd been doing. She looked up as Seven started tapping a few buttons on the padd she always seemed to carry with her.

"I believe that we can modify the sensors to locate the drive." Seven reported. "Where you able to locate Delvine?"

Gretchen nodded. "Only though the comm. badge signal at first, but now that the computer has matched Bruening's bio scans to his bio-file she'll be able to track him. Before you arrived she was telling me that he's replicated the rest of what he needs to finish making the explosives and the hub that controls their detonation." Both older women looked oddly at Gretchen when she used the pronoun to describe the computer and a half grin tugged at her lips. "You think the computers are obnoxious now wait till they can interact with you of their own accord. I'm pretty sure one of you, if not both of you, programmed my ship to be a lot like you. Have you ever had a star ship nag you?"

Janeway's head was swimming but Seven was still focused despite her amusement.

"You've been able to established a connection to our computer core?"

Gretchen nodded. "The shuttle may look old and damaged but it's loaded with the advances of my time."

"I can't seem to access your sensors." Janeway announced as she tapped at a few buttons.

Again Gretchen nodded. "Security lock, just in case," She smiled a little. "I got caught. Computer, identify Janeway, Kathryn." A pulse of red light scanned Janeway.

"Acknowledged." The computer replied. "Identity confirmed. Welcome aboard Admiral."

Gretchen flinched as she said, "Computer, indentify Janeway, Annika."

The process was repeated with Seven. "Acknowledged. Identity confirmed. Welcome Aboard, Professor."

"And you yelled at me over the TPD." Gretchen huffed before ordering, "Clear them both for command access, and try too keep any more details from our time to yourself please."

The computer beeped. "Acknowledged Captain."

Seven raised her brow in surprise at the name and title but quickly put it aside as she began working. "I will begin scanning for the temporal drive. I am familiar with the temporal signature."

"Subject is accessing environmental controls on deck eleven section 2B." The computer interrupted.

Janeway wasted no time slapping her comm. badge. "Tuvok, we have an intruder on deck eleven. Lock down that deck and send an armed team to that area."

"Captain we did not detect…"

She cut him off, "You wouldn't he's disguised as Ensign Delvine."

Out in the shuttle bay the sound of gasping drew Gretchen to the hatch of the shuttle. Because the shuttle had it's own environment the changed in the bay hadn't affected them. As she stood there she could see crewmen gasping for lack of air. She didn't even think she simply reacted. She darted out of the breathable atmosphere of the shuttle and into the airless cargo bay. She had a few extra seconds before her body would react to the lack of air so she darted towards the control panel across the massive bay. Her lungs began to burn just as she reached it and she worked as quickly as she could to reestablish the bay's environmental controls.

"What's going on?" Janeway asked as she stepped to the hatch with Seven.

"She is attempting to by pass the bay's environmental controls." Seven reported. "There is no breathable air outside this shuttle."

The two women watched as crewmen dropped and then just as Janeway was about to dart out the hatch herself there was a rush of air. They each ran to a crewman to check on him or her. Janeway was helping a young man to his feet when she heard Seven called out to her.

"Captain." Seven said as she watched Gretchen's knees buckle a bit. They both went over to the young woman.

"Chakotay to Janeway, Captain we just had a ship wide malfunction of the environmental system." The first officer reported. "There's still fog on deck three."

Janeway rushed over to Gretchen and helped her up as she replied. "I am aware of them Commander. Have the senior staff gather in the conference room as soon as possible. We have a saboteur on board."

Gretchen filled her lungs as she shook her head. "We can't tell them everything."

Janeway nodded. "I know, and we won't, but I will not keep my crew in the dark. Not when it comes to their lives"

Gretchen nodded. She felt guilty for having kept this from all of them and that was because she learned what it meant to be a captain, what it meant to be a Starfleet officer from her mother. As the three women headed to a turbo lift once Gretchen could feel both women stealing glances at her. She knew they had questions but she couldn't answer any of them, not matter how badly she wanted too.

As they approached the bridge the lights in the turbo lifted flickered. When the lift doors opened the three women stepped out onto the bridge to find it lit by emergency backup lighting. "Report!" Janeway ordered as she made her way to the railing just behind her chair. Her first officer was just about to fill her in when the ship suddenly shook.

"There's been an explosion on deck twelve!" Harry reported. "We have a hull breach on that deck section fifteen."

Gretchen could feel her heart sink when she realized what that was. She turned to look at her mother as she said, "He's been using the malfunctions to distract you. He's placed bombs all over the ship."

"How do you know this?" Tuvok asked with a raised brow.

Gretchen looked over at him from where she stood beside her other mother. "We've used this tactic before." Then she looked at Janeway again. "There will be a central triggering hub that will regulate the explosions. Now that the first one has gone off others will follow. He's using a staggering pattern to give him time to get to the shuttle he plans on using for his escape."

Janeway nodded and then turned to Tuvok. "Lock down all shuttle bays and transporters."

While Janeway gave orders, and while Seven scanned for the shuttle with the stolen drive, Gretchen slipped back into the turbo lift. "Computer," She called out after tapping her comm. badge. "Site to site back to the shuttle."

When Gretchen appeared in her shuttle she quickly tapped into Seven's scans. "Computer, when the shuttle with the drive is located override all command codes, access remote helm of the shuttle and drop the force fields around the shuttle bays. Launch this shuttle as well as the drive shuttle and set a course that will take both shuttles away from Voyager and maintain distance." She thought a moment before going over to her command console and tapping in the rest of her orders.

The computer beeped and hummed. "This course of action will leave you stranded, Captain."

"I know but I'll deal with that if the time comes." Gretchen replied.

"Commands confirmed."

Gretchen nodded. "Good, now find Bruening and show me on an overlay of Voyager's layout." She looked over the map quickly and was able to pin point where he was going. She then pressed her finger to a section on the map and commanded. "Site to site to this area."

Janeway looked around the bridge and then up at Seven. "Where'd she go?"

Seven scanned the ship and then looked up at Janeway. "I believe she is her mother's daughter."

"And what does that mean?" Janeway huffed while everyone else on the bridge looked at the two of them oddly.

"I believe she is taking a calculated risk and is attempting to handle the situation herself."


	9. Chapter 10

The scans on Seven's console blinked a very bright red. She had been able to locate the stolen drive that the adult Gretchen had said was onboard. It had been added to one of their own shuttles. She looked up to inform the Captain she'd found a modified type two shuttle with the stolen experimental drive, but was cut off.

"Captain." Tuvok stated from his place at tactical. "A shuttle in shuttle bay one has powered up and the force fields around the bay door have been dropped."

Janeway turned quickly and stared at her Vulcan second officer. "Do not allow that shuttle to leave this ship." She commanded in an eerily calm voice.

"Captain, I'm detecting that Ms. Nonnahs' shuttle is also launching from shuttle bay two." Harry added.

Turning on her heel to look at Harry who was on the other side of the bridge, the Captain suddenly had an idea. "Harry, scan our shuttle for life signs."

It took a moment for Harry to complete the order but when he looked up the bewilderment was evident on his face. "There are no life signs, Captain, on either shuttle."

Janeway nodded. "That's what I thought."

"The shuttles don't seem to be going anywhere. They look as if they're following at a distance." Chakotay added in as he looked down at the screen next to him.

"Harry, keep an eye on those shuttles." Janeway ordered before turning to Seven. "Can you locate either of them?"

Seven looked down at her screen and tapped a couple of buttons before simply answering. "Yes."

Janeway nodded. "Seven, Tuvok, your with me. Arm yourselves. Commander you have the bridge. Do not try to tow in those shuttles."

"What's going on, Captain?" The broad shouldered first officer asked.

"We have a saboteur on board. Have B'Elanna scan every inch of this ship for explosives and a main control hub." Janeway ordered as she headed for the turbo lift.

Chakotay frowned. "Llennodo Nonnahs?"

Janeway shook her head. "No, actually it's Ensign Delvine." Then she shook her head again, this with a sigh. "I'll explain more later." If she can still remember any of this that is. As she waited for Tovuk and Seven in the lift she pressed the heels of her hands to her temples. She really hated time travel.

Tom shook his head as the turbo lift doors closed. "This is really going to make B'Elanna's day."

The hallway on deck five was empty except for the red haired captain hidden just around the curve of the corridor. The computer relied to her through her earpiece that both shuttles had been launched and the movements of Bruening's bio signs. He was heading her way quickly, no doubt on his way to shuttle bay one, but he would never make it. Gretchen loosened and tightened her grip on her phaser as she waited. For a moment she wondered how she could have let herself be taken in by him, but she knew that he wasn't like this in the beginning. He had been a good man when they'd first meet. The conflicts had changed him, like they had changed everyone; only he'd lost his grip on it all. Or at least that's what she told herself. She couldn't bring herself to believe that he'd used her.

The sound of fast moving footsteps brought Gretchen out of her thoughts and she reacted quickly. She stepped out from her hiding place just in time to come face to face with her target. "This stops here and now Mister Bruening. Put your hands on your head and get on your knees." She ordered as she pointed her phaser at him.

Bruening smiled sickly at her. "Hello Gee Jay. I was wondering you'd come out into the open so I could see your pretty face one last time."

"Get down on your knees and place your hands on your head, Lieutenant Bruening. You are under arrest for a countless number of crimes, starting with one hundred and forty-seven counts of attempted murder, and ending with treason against the Federation." Gretchen stated in a voice that sounded a lot like her mother's. "Then tell me where you put the bombs and the control hub."

The man remained standing where he was but his smile quickly faded. "Oh, so this is how we're playing it. Your going to pull rank and toss orders at me." The smile returned and it made Gretchen's stomach twist. He didn't look like him except for the smile. It was unnerving. "Well, Captain Janeway my dear, in case you hadn't noticed, I stopped taking orders from you a long time ago."

Gretchen could feel her body tense up as Bruening moved towards her, but she kept the phaser aimed at him. "Don't think your getting past me Malcolm."

Bruening took a few more steps closer to her and made a point of keeping his hands where she could see them. "You won't shoot me, Gee Jay."

The knuckles on her hand began to turn white from the grip that Gretchen had on the phaser. "You take another step closer and I will, Malcolm. Your not getting away, your going to tell me where you set up the bombs and where the controls are to turn them off, and your going to do it now."

"I don't think so baby. You see by the time you or them find anything I'll be on my shuttle and half way back to our time, and you'll all be space dust." He came a little closer. "Ya know, babe, it's a pity you won't be there, but hey look at it this way, you never liked being in the Alpha Quadrant anyway, you hated having to leave the Delta Quadrant, you hated having to leave Voyager. Now you'll never have to leave. You can be with Voyager in this godforsaken part of space forever."

It hurt Gretchen to hear him using what she had told him in confidence against her, but it did not surprise her. It seemed to just fit in with the type of man he had become. Gretchen smiled after shaking her mind clear. "Oh, wait, do you mean the type two shuttle you hooked the drive up to? The one that we were able to find, the one that I just launched along with my own out of the shuttle bays? The ones' that will self distract with one simple verbal command from me? Is that the shuttle you're talking about Malcolm?"

Bruening's cheeks grew a hot red as his eyes narrowed. "You blow up those ships and you'll be stuck here as well."

"It'll be worth it." She hissed in return.

"You'll die when this ship blows to pieces." He told her.

Gretchen rolled her eyes. Did he really think that was a clever line? Even if she weren't here at the moment she'd die anyway if the ship blew up. She wouldn't be here if anything happened to her baby self. "This ship isn't going to blow up, Malcolm, because your going to tell me how to stop the series or you'll die with us."

"We'll take you with us, Gee Jay." Bruening said after a long moment of silence. "We'll grab the kid and take her back to our time. You don't have to die. You didn't cause anything. You were just as much a victim as the rest of us!"

Now it was Gretchen who's cheeks burned. "This isn't about me or my life, Malcolm. I'm not going to allow you to kill an entire Starfleet crew, my family. My parents!"

The sick smile on Bruening's face reached to his eyes as he moved a little closer. He'd heard the sound of the others getting close and knew that little miss Starfleet captain would react if she thought the time line were being damaged. "They have to be stopped, Gretchen! If Voyager never returns to the Alpha Quadrant then the conflicts would never happen! What are one hundred and forty some lives compared to the thousands that will die in the conflicts!"

Gretchen had heard them coming as well. "Shut up, Malcolm."

"What's the matter, Gretchen? Don't you want the Admiral to know what her actions will end up doing? Don't you think your mother has the right to know she starts a war?" He barked at her.

Her face was nearly the color of her hair. "Not another word, Mister Bruening or I will have no choice but to shoot you."

"You won't shoot me, love." Bruening said sweetly as he reached out to caress her cheek.

Her left brow shot up as Gretchen tilted her head. Did he really think he could his chrams would work on her now after all that he'd done to her? She pushed him away with her left hand and watched as Bruening stumbled back. She didn't want to stun him because she wanted him to talk, but she did fire off a shot on the lowest setting which pushed him into a bulkhead.

Bruening growled in pain as he lunged forward, pulling a knife from his boot and raising it high over his head. Gretchen increased the level on her phaser and was about to fire again but stopped short.

"Mister Burening." Janeway called out. When the man turned to look at her she spoke just as she fired off a shot from her own phaser. "Don't mess with my little girl."

Bruening crumpled to the floor as soon as Janeway's shot hit him.

Nothing was said as Gretchen just stood there stunned as she watched the rest of the scene play out in slow motion. She watched as Tuvok mind melded with Bruening to find out where the bombs and control hub were, and then as the stunned man was taken away. It wasn't until she felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked up into a pair of icy blue eyes that she finally said. "Now I know someone will have to come clean up the mess I've made."

"You did not 'make a mess'." Seven said coolly and yet affectionately. "It was Bruening who contaminated the time line."

Janeway nodded, as she looked the young woman over with what Gretchen knew as a mother's eye. "What he said, about our return…"

"You know I can't explain that." Gretchen said quickly.

Her mother nodded, "I know but I wasn't going to ask about the 'war' he talked about. I was going to ask about what he said about you."

Gretchen looked down at the decking before she looked up again only to meet her mother's gaze. "It isn't important. I should have the shuttles return to the ship so I can remove the drive from your shuttle before we leave." Before her mother could say another word Gretchen was walking away.

"I will assist you." Seven announced after sharing a look with her love. She knew that Kathryn had a habit of over looking this certain detail. She was so focused, rightly so, on getting everyone back to the Alpha Quadrant that she forgets that not everyone onboard is from there. Seven her self harbored apprehension about returning to Earth, so she knew that the children born here on Voyager would feel the same way.

"Thanks, but I really think the less time we spend together the better." Gretchen replied softly to the woman now walking beside her.

"I will assist you." Seven repeated with a little more firmness to her voice. Then she softened as she added, "It would be more efficient if we worked together."

Gretchen smiled softly but warmly up at the younger version of her mother. She would clash with both of her mothers growing up, but never once did Gretchen every feel as if they weren't there for her. Even now she knew that the real reason Seven wanted to help was so that she wouldn't be alone. She'd just had a lot of emotional crap dumped on her on top of this highly stressful mission. The last thing Gretchen wanted was to be alone and somehow her mother knew that, even though this wasn't the mother who knew her so well.

Several hours later the three women stood in the shuttle bay alone. Burening was secured on Gretchen's shuttle waiting for the return trip to their present and his awaiting trail. Gretchen, dressed in her uniform, stood in front of her mothers and smiled at the beaming pride washing over her in waves.

"Gretchen," Janeway said as she reached out and put her hand on the young woman's arm. She hadn't been able to shake what was said about how her daughter felt about Voyager's return, and she wanted to know how she could help when this happened in her time.

Gretchen shook her head. "It's ok, Mom. Despite what you heard, I had a great childhood. I know you both worry about it but don't, you're great moms."

"In case I don't say it enough in the future I want you to know I'm proud of you." Janeway told the young woman before hugging her.

After hugged Seven Gretchen walked up the ramp to her shuttle but stopped when she caught sight of someone beaming in behind her mothers. She smirked at him. "Hey ya Duc."

The man in the very futuristic looking blue and black uniform just shook his head. "What is it with you Janeways and time?"

"Someone has to keep you on your toes, Commander." Gretchen teased.

"Go home, Captain." Ducane said with a shake of his head. "I have work to do here."

Gretchen nodded and looked again to her mothers. "See you in a few years."


	10. Chapter 11

The lights in the room slowly started to rise as the computer announced that it was 0600. The two women in the room slowly began to stir, with the smaller of the two groaning over the short amount of time she'd been able to sleep. The tall blonde that had been lying next to the smaller woman, smiled.

"At least you were able to get some sleep, Kathryn. B'Elanna has most likely been up all night seeing to repairs." Seven said as she rose from the bed and waited for her partner to join her.

Kathryn nodded as she slowly made her way out of bed and towards the replicator in the living room. "Coffee, black." She ordered before saying, "She's probably still working. She wasn't very happy when those conduits exploded."

Seven stood with her hands behind her back waiting for the first sign that Gretchen was starting to awaken. "She is still troubled by the loss of Ensign Delvine on the mining mission she went on last week. She has been over compensating with work. I believe a play date on the holodeck will be helpful."

"The hardest thing about any command is the loss of an officer's life, Annika, and it never gets any easier." Kathryn replied as she sat at the small dinning table and sipped her coffee. "Especially when the death was such an unnecessary one." She took a sip of her coffee and sighed contently. "I think some down time with the girls is a great idea."

"The caves were dark and Ensign Delvine was separated from the group. B'Elanna can not blame herself for an accident." Seven said softly as she sat next to Kathryn. "But logic is illogical in this matter."

Kathryn laughed softly. "You spend to much time with Tuvok, Annika."

The tall blond lifted her brow and titled her head just as her enhanced hearing picked up the first sounds of their ten month old beginning to stir. "I believe we will be in need of one of Neelix's jars of baby nutrients shortly."

Kathryn couldn't help but smile. "Then I should get my shower so I can replicate breakfast."

An hour later Kathryn walked into the mess hall with Gretchen in her arms and the child's large bag of necessities on her shoulder. The smile she'd had on her face as she listened to her daughter attempting to form words, faded when she saw her chief engineer sitting by the large window looking down at her own child.

"Good Morning Lanna." Janeway said as she approached.

The young woman looked up and replied simply, "Morning Captain."

B'Elanna looked a lot worse for wear and Kathryn became concerned. "Have you gotten any sleep, B'Elanna?" The young woman shook her head and Kathryn's frown deepened. "How are the repairs coming?"

"Nearly finished." B'Elanna answered. "We should have them done by the end of the day."

"Then all the major work is done?" Janeway asked. When B'Elanna nodded she said, "I'm sure your people can handle the loose ends. I want you to take the afternoon off. You need to get some rest."

B'Elanna knew by the look on the Captain's face that there was no use in arguing. The two women sat there a bit longer before B'Elanna finally gave in and talked with the Captain about everything that had happened. They talked about the explosion in the conduits that took out a whole section on deck three, about Delvine's death in the caves, and in the end B'Elanna felt a little better. The conversation then quickly turned to the girls as they watched them together.

"Do you think they'll be ok growing up like this?" B'Elanna asked.

Kathryn smiled. Although she wasn't sure why she was so sure about it, she knew that the girls, that Gretchen would grow up to be someone to be proud of. "I know they will, Lanna, I know they will."

_Some time in the future _

"It wasn't an accident. Delvine was murdered." Gretchen said softly as she watched over her mother's old captain's logs. She'd known that Burening had to have killed the young man in order to take his place, but it hadn't seemed real to her until now. None of this had seemed real to her, even though she had lived though it, had relived it during Malcolm's trial, it still seemed like a bad dream.

It was unfair to Gretchen that Ensign Delvine's death was rewritten to be an accident, it took away from his honor somehow, but she understood why things had to be cleaned up. Malcolm's last minute rant could have caused a total melt down of the time line. If her mother had been allowed to remember what he'd said, she would have made different choices and Gretchen's present would have been utterly different.

"A life time spent in a maximum security colony on Pluto is hardly enough to make up for what he did." She said aloud just as the chime to her ready room door sounded. Gretchen quickly turned off her screen, took a deep breath to settle into her captain's mask, and then called out, "Enter."

She wasn't to surprised to see her mother enter her ready room. Voyager-A had been in orbit along side the Di Vinci when Gretchen had come through the spaceal rip, and then had followed them during their short trip back to Earth. Gretchen had spent the two weeks it took to get to Earth in debriefings and trial proceedings and had been, until now, able to avoid her mothers.

"Admiral." Gretchen said as she got to her feet. She stood there with her hands clasped behind her back until Kathryn laughed.

"You look so much like your Mama when you stand like that." Kathryn said as she came over to the desk. "Relax sweetheart, I'm not here as an Admiral, I'm here as your mother."

"I kind of thought you'd be by." She replied before waving her hand over the tea set on the corner of her desk that held a pot of fresh brewed coffee. She didn't wait on a reply from her mother, she just poured her a cup and handed it to her. "What's on your mind?"

Kathryn took the cup and then motioned for Gretchen to join her on the couch across the room. "I've been keeping a close eye on former Lieutenant Bruening 's trial." She began as she sipped the coffee.

She'd been afraid of that. During her time on Voyager her computer had recorded audio of everything that had had happened to be used as evidence. If her mother had been watching the proceedings she head the comments Malcolm had made. "Ya know I had really thought you'd known about my going to that..."

"We can talk about just how many times you snuck off to follow away teams later, Gretchen. That isn't what I want to talk about." Kathryn said as she placed her cup on the table in front of them. When she turned back to her daughter she asked. "Why didn't you ever tell me how you felt about coming back here?"

Gretchen looked down into the darkness of her cup as she replied. "Because how I felt didn't matter."

Kathryn placed a finger under her daughter's chin and lifted her head to make the younger woman look at her. "Of course how you felt mattered."

"No it didn't. You had to get your crew home. The one hundred and forty-one people on that ship who belonged here were more important then the hand full of us who's only home had been Voyager. The needs of the many out weigh the needs of the few."

Kathryn frowned as she took her daughter's hand into her own and held it. "You could have still come to me, sweetheart. You should have come to me and your Mama and talked about how you were feeling." Kathryn paused a moment before adding. "I should have known by the way you acted out back then."

Gretchen shook her head as she squeezed her mother's hand. "It would have been an irrelevant use of our time together and a betrayal of what you stood for as Voyager's captain."

"Not being there for you when you needed me to was a betrayal of what I stand for as your mother" Kathryn replied. Reaching out she caressed her daughter's face and brushed at her hair. "This has been a really hard assignment for you hasn't it, my darling girl."

The younger woman nodded. "Yes, but I don't have any regrets and I would do it again."

"They really should have assigned someone else." Kathryn said with a gentle shake of her head. "Talk about conflict of interest."

That made Gretchen laugh. "Admiral Paris knew I'd never let anyone else do it."

Kathryn smiled. "That's what Tom said when I asked him if he'd lost his mind."

Gretchen was glad that the conversation had shifted. She'd done what she had to and now she just wanted to live in the moment. She had had her fill of the past for now. "Did you come over alone?"

A bright smile spread across Kathryn's face. "No, your Mama is waiting for us in your quarters. I wanted a chance to talk to you alone. Are you sure you're ok?"

"I'm fine, Mom." Gretchen reassured her mother. "Yeah, sure, when we first got back I hated it, but going back to Voyager then I realized that what really made Voyager home was my family, and I still have all of you." Leaning over Gretchen placed a kiss on her mother's cheek. "I'm fine, Mom, so stop worrying about me."

"That, little girl, will never happen." Kathryn said with a lopsided grin.

The End

* * *

Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I'm so glad everyone is enjoying the journey I've set Janeway and Seven on and hope you will continue to come along with us. Up next... Sins of the Past


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